Surviving the Game as a Barbarian-Chapter 524: Giant Island (3)
On the 6th floor, there is a place known as the No Wind Zone.
There is no wind, and the ocean currents are nearly nonexistent. To pass through this area, it’s essential to have a magical propulsion device...
This propulsion device doesn’t only work in the No Wind Zone; it is also useful in other places. After all, there are plenty of situations during navigation where acceleration is required.
Just like this.
Whooooosh—!!
As soon as the accumulated magic stones were poured into the propulsion device...
The motor attached to the bottom of the ship started, and a thunderous noise echoed.
At the same time,
Shhhhhh-!!
A powerful current of water surged forward, far more forceful than what could be generated through regular sailing, and the bow of the ship surged ahead.
“Fold the sails!”
As soon as the wide sails were folded, the speed increased even more. When the propulsion device is on, the sails often become an obstacle.
“Ughhh!”
“Everyone, grab anything you can!”
The deck swayed violently in proportion to the speed.
Everyone lowered their stances and gripped the sails or the railings tightly to prevent themselves from being thrown off.
How much time had passed?
“Mister, they’re no longer in sight!”
The heads of the giants, which had been slowly receding in the distance, were now completely gone from view. They had initially seemed to be following us, but upon realizing they couldn’t catch up, they must have given up.
Did I lose them...?
Though I was relieved for now, it was too early to feel completely safe.
“Captain, what should we do with the propulsion device?”
“Keep it on. This could still be their territory. We need to get out of here as quickly as possible.”
“Yes, sir.”
In this silvery sea, different magical creatures appear in different regions.
In the route from the Rock Island to the Library Island, McGurri lived, and on the path to the Human Island, Tentacoolan could be found.
Based on this pattern, it’s highly likely that the sea we’re currently in is the territory of Hiphramagent.
There’s no room for complacency here.
In some places, 7th-grade monsters appear, while in others, 4th-grade ones show up.
Of course, that can be managed up to this point.
But seven monsters of what are likely 2nd grade?
At this level, it wouldn’t be out of place to just call it the Sea of Death.
Now that I think about it, even 1st-grade monsters float around the sea...
Perhaps I had descended to the 1st floor too hastily, but I quickly pushed that thought aside.
After all, my explorations had always been like this.
These places are full of unknowns and dangers, but as long as I return alive, there will be great rewards.
Yeah, just selling the essences I’ve obtained so far would be worth quite a bit, right?
...Let's prioritize finding a way back. I can go back, upgrade my gear, and come back down afterward.
“Auyen, where are we now?”
“Due to the sudden acceleration, I can’t be exactly sure, but according to my calculations... we’re likely near the destination.”
Near the destination?
So, we’ve crossed the 6-hour distance in just 2 hours?
While I was impressed by the propulsion device’s performance, I was also slightly worried.
The cost-efficiency of this device was famously bad.
“How much magic stone have we used?”
“More than 90% of what you gave me has been consumed.”
In other words, we burned a quarter of the magic stones we obtained in this exploration in just 2 hours.
That’s about 20 million stones...
Just thinking about the specific amount made my stomach twist, but then again, it’s not so bad considering I bought my life with those 20 million stones.
Magic stones can always be mined again.
“So we’ll need to recalculate the route... Would it be alright if I focused for a while?”
“Oh, sorry for the interruption.”
Afterward, Auyen took out a few navigational tools he’d seen before and fiddled with them, steering the ship. Soon enough, we spotted the island.
Muul Armin, who had been watching from the side, couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration.
“That person... is Auyen Rockrove, correct?”
“That’s right.”
“He’s quite the skilled individual. It’s a mystery why his name isn’t more well-known in the city.”
Muul said this while complimenting me for having such a talented navigator on the team, and it didn’t seem like empty flattery.
“...What makes you say that?”
“We don’t actually have a navigator on our expedition team. I’m doing the job myself. So, I can tell you, it’s incredibly difficult to find the correct path while speeding up without the sun or stars.”
“Ah... Is that so?”
“Yes. The ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) navigational map he drew up is incredibly precise. If given the chance, I’d love to learn from him.”
I awkwardly smiled at his sincere praise.
I wasn’t sure what to say.
“You know, they say heroes always gather people around them. I guess there’s some truth to those old sayings.”
“Cough cough...”
I had only brought him along because I didn’t want to kill the plunderer after catching him...
We finally arrived at the destination.
However, instead of immediately docking the ship, we circled the island once to observe it. We docked on the southern coastline, rather than the northern cliffs.
“Well, Muul, do you think we’ve found the right place?”
“Yes. It matches all the characteristics they mentioned.”
The island was about ten times the size of the Human Island. freēnovelkiss.com
Its most striking feature was the massive trees visible right after we landed on the coast.
“We felt it even while looking from the ship...”
“They’re enormous.”
“Woa... My neck hurts just looking at them!”
Every tree, standing casually in the area, was far bigger than any tree I had seen in the labyrinth. They were almost ten stories tall, comparable to an apartment building.
“Hey...”
As we prepared to move, surveying the surrounding terrain, someone approached me.
A mage from the Armin Expedition.
“Um... Excuse me...”
“If you have something to say, just say it.”
“Is it alright if I take some of this wood? I’ve never seen trees like these anywhere before...”
The mage, clearly hesitant yet excited, asked me this.
Mages, huh.
It was a bit unfamiliar to me since I’d only been with Versil, a former player, recently.
“This might turn out to be a very valuable material. If so, it would be a great benefit to Lord Baron...”
“If they’re that big, it’s going to take a long time.”
“...I only need a small piece.”
“Well, if that’s the case...”
I had Ainard help with collecting a sample of the tree’s wood.
Unlike Versil, these guys were true mages, so I figured they might discover something during the expedition.
“Thank you! Thank you so much!”
The mage, who had managed to collect a piece of bark and a log, was overjoyed and kept bowing to me.
He then turned around, rushing over to his fellow mages, grinning and talking excitedly.
“You really got it, huh!”
“I can’t wait for nightfall, so I can start studying it.”
“Hahaha... Don’t forget, we agreed to list all research done here under joint authorship.”
Is that really such a big deal?
Anyway, after making sure the mages’ needs were met, we reorganized our formation and ventured into the island’s interior.
We moved cautiously, aware that we didn’t know what might emerge.
Time passed.
“Yandel, something’s running toward us.”
After just 30 minutes on the island, we finally sensed a monster’s presence. We all tensed up and got into combat-ready positions.
But...
“...?”
When the monster appeared, we all froze.
In Gigantism mode, it was a small creature that didn’t even reach my calves.
Green skin, a wide open mouth, and a tiny knife clutched in its fern-like hands.
Grrr?!
“...A goblin?”
I never expected a goblin to show up here.
Though I felt the tension drain from my body, I quickly regained my focus and shouted at the others.
“Don’t let your guard down! It might be a creature with shapeshifting abilities—”
“The goblin is casting [Trap Creation].”
“...Huh?”
The goblin then blatantly created a trap and tossed it in front of us.
And then...
“....”
.....
An eerie silence hung in the air as we stared at each other.
“That one...”
“Is it waiting for us to step on it?”
I steeled myself again.
“Don’t let your guard down... Goblins aren’t this stupid. It’s highly likely this one is different from the goblins we know—”
Just then, an arrow flew and struck the goblin’s head.
And then...
Shhhhh—!!
In that moment, the goblin’s body disintegrated into light and scattered.
“......”
“......”
...What was that? Was it really just a regular goblin?
What did I even do?
A deep sense of self-doubt began to rise within me.
Grrr!!
Grrr!! Grrr! Grrr!!
The goblins, sensing the death of their comrade, started screeching in wild excitement.
And at that moment...
Whoooooosh-!
The small goblin’s body swelled.
“...Huh?”
Now it was big enough to reach my calves.
It also seemed to have gained some muscle...
“The goblin has cast [Gigantism].”
...What is this?
Taking down all the goblins wasn’t difficult.
Even if they grew 1.5 times bigger, they couldn’t escape being goblins.
The battle itself was easier than I expected.
However, the shock from this one battle was quite significant.
“That thing we just saw...”
“Could it be...?”
None of us could focus enough to collect the goblin’s magic stone. Since I have the ability to detect [Gigantism], they must have figured my sight was the most accurate.
“...I’m still not sure.”
“Is that so?”
When I gave my decisive answer, everyone awkwardly stayed silent.
Except for one person—Amelia.
“It’s not important whether you’re sure or not. We’re all just curious about your thoughts. Do you think that was [Gigantism]?”
“...Yes.”
“Interesting. Not all of them will likely be upper-tier variants.”
It was clear that the goblins we just encountered were quite unusual.
After all, they weren’t new species.
But using another creature’s skill...
Was that just a feature of the goblin I saw?
Or did others have the same ability?
These questions were soon resolved during our continued exploration.
“The troll has cast [Gigantism].”
“The werewolf has cast [Gigantism].”
“The iron golem has cast [Gigantism]...”
“...”
Every monster we encountered along the way had this peculiar ability to use [Gigantism] as an additional skill.
We weren’t sure exactly how it worked.
But...
This island.
There must be something special about this place.
Monsters from other islands didn’t do this.
Could it be a field effect unique to this island?
That was my first guess, but I wasn’t confident yet.
So, this time, I decided to ask the mage for help.
“How’s the essence?”
“All the wave values and patterns match the usual essence.”
“So it’s no different from the goblin essence we found on the first floor?”
“Yes... Based on the values, it seems so. Consuming this essence likely won’t give you [Gigantism]. If you’d like... we could find some volunteers and test it, though...”
“That’s alright. It’s not that important.”
We then continued our exploration.
Our objectives were twofold.
First, to gather information about the new island.
Second, to find and rescue any explorers trapped on the island.
The former still felt vague, but fortunately, we soon found a clue for the latter.
“Footprints. From a person, not a monster.”
A shoeprint we found during our search.
According to one of the Armin Expedition’s members, it was made by a pair of shoes from a well-known store in Lapdonia.
“He used to work in the royal investigation department, so you can trust him.”
“A person with a distinguished background, huh. Can we tell when these prints were left?”
“Probably about five hours ago.”
So, I had been worried that everyone might have already died by now.
At least there were survivors after all.
